September 24, 1966 news tidbit in Competition Press & Autoweek indicates Chevy will build a suitable car to run in Group 2(Trans-Am) and A-Sedan competition. Also interesting to note Firebird name had not yet been chosen for Pontiac's "F" body.The 283 was the early engine choice but was soon ruled out in favor of a new 302 cubic inch displacement engine.

Mercury Cougar was a brand new car for the '67 model year and Lincoln-Mercury was all-in with the intent to run thefull schedule. They also hired top shelf drivers Dan Gurney, Parnelli Jones and Ed Leslie. A.J. Foyt was also shown asa potential driver but it never came to pass. (Jon Mello Collection)

David Pearson voiced his desire to find an opportunity to drive for somebody in Trans-Am in this November '66 article.

Dennis Cipnic's column in Competition Press & Autoweek points out the soft state of the car market for the '67 models andthinks the Camaro has sold poorly. He also mentions the name "Corsa" as being a potential name for the top "sporty"model.Vince Piggins is known to have selected the name Cheetah for the model that would ultimately end up being called the Z-28.

A "press preview" or prototype version of the Z-28 was on display at the American Road Race of Champions event at Riversideat the end of November '66. It may also have performed some pace car duties that weekend as well, although that is unclear.It was also shown to the motoring press at the Mesa Proving Ground in Arizona shortly thereafter. A 2-page flyer (shown below)was provided to give the press more information for use in their write-ups. You will note that the name of the car is Z(hyphen)28and not Z(slash)28. Chevrolet did not make use of the Z/28 moniker until mid-year 1968 and Chevrolet factory literature and adsused the Z-28 name prior to that. A subtle difference but worth noting.

Some pics from Mesa, AZ. Interesting that white stripe tires are fitted and the rear spoiler is a one-off piece with a completely flatback side. A rear spoiler did not end up being installed on a '67 Z-28 on the assembly line but a small handful of cars that did getrun in the Trans-Am series in that year did get them. In at least one documented case, the factory only provided a blueprint andthe spoiler was homemade based off the print.

Here's another engine bay shot showing the cowl plenum air cleaner in place. It appears as thoughthe car is using the Corvette-style aluminum intake with the squared off runners but a true Z-28 manifoldwas installed on the car later.

This memo to all Chevrolet dealers came out on Friday, December 9th, 1966 to announce the upcomingavailability of the new Z-28 model. The two-page memo gave out pricing and option info but the claimthat the J-56 HD brakes would be mandatory did not turn out to be true. Only 1/3 of the cars got the option.(Jon Mello Collection)

Ev Gardner's column in the December 9th, 1966 issue of the Washington Daily News has some interesting newsto report and it looks like there is early interest by people looking to race the new Z-28 in the Trans-Am series.

On December 12th, 1966 Competition Press & Autoweek announced the new model.

The first order for a Z-28 was accepted on December 13th. This engineering service letter was put out on that same day.The first ordered car was the first to be built (December 29th). This car was purchased by Hugh Heishman through AeroChevrolet in Alexandria, VA for Johnny Moore to drive in the Trans-Am series. John was the service manager for Hugh'sVW/Porsche dealership in Arlington, VA and was a rising young talent with success racing VWs and Porsches up to that time.(Jon Mello Collection)

Fred, you're right about a lot of the knowledge already being known but what I do like about that engineering letter is thefact that it is a factory generated document that spells out the fact that the cowl plenum air cleaner, factory headers andtransistorized ignition were items that were placed in the trunk when the car was shipped to the dealer for delivery. Thereare skeptics out there who don't believe this occurred and that belief simply is not true.

Jerry Titus of Sports Car Graphic did an article on the "Cougars for Competition". On paper, with that driver lineupand factory dollars behind the effort, they certainly looked like the team to beat for the title. (Jon Mello Collection)

January 21, 1967 Washington Daily News indicates Johnny Moore's Z-28 arrived on Wednesday the 18th andwork has quickly begun on turning it into a race car in preparation for going to Daytona.

(Jon Mello Collection)

Ev Gardner's column in WDN on January 26th features a nice photo of Johnny Moore as he's prepping the car.

(Jon Mello Collection)

Don Yenko placed an ad in Competition Press & Autoweek in late January showing his intent to build Z-28sthat were available already prepped for racing, basically an off-the-shelf race car, which he called the Stormer.

(Jon Mello Collection)

Phil Seaborn got one of the first '67 Z-28s in the Pacific Northwest and the Seattle Post Intelligencer dida short feature on it prior to Phil making preparation to turn it into a racer for the Trans-Am series.

(Jon Mello Collection)

Carroll Shelby was late putting a Mustang team together. Ford Motor Company was really wanting Mercury to be the Fordfactory team in Trans-Am but Shelby had wanted to have the chance to defend his Trans-Am title won in '66, plus therewere people within Ford that did want to see Mustang involved as well. Shelby was able to get a support program for racersrunning Group 2 Mustangs in Trans-Am and A/Sedan and this helped bring a lot of Mustangs to the racing grids in 1967.

The first race on the Trans-Am schedule took place on February 3rd, 1967 at Daytona as a lead up to theDaytona 24-Hour Continental. Quite a few of the drivers ran in both races. Only four Camaros were preparedin time to make it to Daytona due to the fact that the cars were not delivered to the owners until just a coupleof weeks before the race.

Jon Mello Collection

Daytona 300 Trans-Am, February 3, 1967. Mark Donohue's first race in a Camaro.Photo by Craig Fisher

Here's a report on the Daytona 300 Trans-Am as found in Motor Trend. The race was won by Bob Tullius in a year-oldDodge Dart after the other "heavy hitters" ran into various forms of trouble.Jon Mello Collection

The February 18, 1967 issue of Competition Press & Autoweek reported that Bill Thomas would be involved in heading upthe Nickey Chevrolet Trans-Am effort but this was a short lived endeavor. 1967 was an off year for car sales in general andNickey decided to conserve their resources shortly after this. I talked to George Follmer about this recently and he told methat he was good friends with Bill Thomas and does not recall ever being asked to drive a Camaro for him.

Various tidbits from Competition Press & Autoweek after the Daytona 300 race. The first item is a column withthoughts from Roger Penske. I like his idea that the Trans-Am should have been run as part of the same weekendas one of the USRRC or Can-Am events. (Jon Mello Collection)

Yenko ad showing their 427 and Z-28 Camaroofferings along with the already successful Stinger.

Preliminary entry list for the Sebring Trans-Am shows Nickey Chevrolet was intending to showup with two '67 Zs as of March 9th (the race was 3/31) but this did not ultimately happen.

As you know, I am always on the lookout for pace car information. I know that a 1967 Pontiac Firebird paced the 1967 Daytona 500 NASCAR race later in February. Do you know if they used the same 1967 Pontiac Firebird to pace the Daytona 300 Trans-Am race? I have a picture that shows a 1967 Pontiac Bonneville convertible in front of the field before the 24-Hour Continental, so unless the Firebird is out in front of the Bonneville and out of the shot I believe the Firebird didn't pace the 24 hour race. Do you have any pictoral evidence that shows whether the Firebird or the Bonneville was used to pace the Daytona 300 Trans Am race? I have not been able to locate any. Might your 1967 Daytona 300 and 24-Hour Continental program have an article about or show a picture of the Firebird? Thanks.

Included are some of the pictures I have located. The first one shows the Firebird and the second one shows the Bonneville convertible in front of the field during the pace lap of the 24-Hour Continental. They both come from gettyimages.com. The others show the Firebird as it looks today. I think it is owned by the museum in Daytona. Apparantly the car was signed by many of the drivers that participated in the races during Speedweeks 1967. I can't remember where I found these pictures on the web.

Scott, I know that Pontiac was the pace car of choice for Daytona in '67 and with the Firebird just becoming available around the February timeframe, it was only natural to feature that car. I don't recall seeing any photos of what car was used to pace the Daytona 300 Trans-Am race but I do know the race was green flagged on the back straight and not at the start/finish line. I think the blue Firebird below also did some pace car activities at Daytona in '67 but it may have been later in the year.

Dave Friedman took a total of 384 pictures of the 1967 Daytona 300 Trans Am only race and 1967 Daytona 24-Hour Continental. They can be seen in a portion of the Dave Friedman Collection at the Henry Ford which is labled "Daytona 24 Hr 1967 Premium Photos" here: http://thehenryford.artehouse.com/perl/collection.pl?collectionID=2658&productTypeID=62&ckon=leftNav There is no distinction between either race so you have to look for the presence of Prototypes and Sports Cars surrounding the Trans Am cars, the presence of extra lights for night racing, or the presence of darkness to tell if it was the 24 Hour race.

I will post the pictures that include the Camaros that took part in the races here but there are several more pictures featuring Mustang, Cougar, Dart, 911 Alfa, etc. Enjoy.

All of the above pictures as well as the pictures of the other Trans Am cars that Dave Friedman took of both the 1967 Daytona 300 and the 1967 24 Hour Continental can also be seen on their Flickr page here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thehenryford/sets/72157633092561581/ It is much easier to navigate around the collection in this form.

Speaking of nice shots, Dave Friedman took over 1,600 photos of both the 1967 Sebring 4-Hour Trans Am race and the 12-Hour Sports Car race the following day. The pictures are part of the Dave Friedman Collection at The Henry Ford. Although the pictures of both races are mixed together, you can see all of them here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thehenryford/sets/72157632877165631/ Click on this link to see many other fabulous pictueres of the Mustangs, Cougars, Darts, Barracudas, Falcons, Porsches, Alfas, Fiats, Lancias, Minis, BMWs, Cortinas, Saabs, Anglias, VWs, Sunbeams and NSUs that participated.

He was able to capture several pictures of all thirteen Camaros that participated in the 4-Hour Trans Am race. He even got a picture of the #28 Thomas Lynch Camaro that retired on the first lap and a few pictures of the #4 John Moore Camaro that finishd 17th (1st Z28).

I am posting a few of the best pictures of each of the thirteen Camaros. Enjoy! Click on the corresponding link to see a larger and clearer version of the picture.

Here are three great pictures of the start of the race featuring several of the participating Camaros. The fourth picture shows the #9 Camaro of someone with the last name of Thompson. Is it Dick Thompson the flying Dentist? Every participant list I have seen only lists his last name. This car only completed 7 laps and ths is the only shot Friedman took of the car.

Click on the corresponding link to see a larger and clearer version of the picture.

Here are four great pictures of the #1 Camaro that was supposodly driven by Joie Chitwood according to the qualifying time list that Jon Mello posted in this thread. Interestingly, his name does not appear in the finishing order list in my Friedman Trans Am book or on ultimateracinghistory.com. There is a Camaro with no identifying number given that was driven to an 11th place finish by Carson Baird and Roger West. Were they the drivers of the #1 Camaro?

Click on the corresponding link to see a larger and clearer version of the picture.

The first two pictures show the #22 Camaro driven by Charlie Kolb to a 7th place finish. Note the unique spinners on his wheels. The last two pictures show the #75 Camaro driven by Vic Campbell and Jim Cooper. It only completed 20 laps.

Click on the corresponding link to see a larger and clearer version of the picture.

Here are four interesting shots taken in sequence of the #5 Camaro driven by Bob Brown. They show a pit stop for a blown drivers side front tire that had completely come off the rim while traveling back to the pits.

Click on the corresponding link to see a larger and clearer version of the picture.

The first picture also shows multiple Camaros fighting for position out on the track but I think it must have been taken on the first lap because the car with the front bumper is the #28 Camaro of Thomas Lynch who retired on the first lap. Every other Camaro in the race had its front bumper removed for weight savings.

The last 2 pictures show the engine compartment of what looks to be the #28 Lynch car because of the appearance of the front bumper.

Click on the corresponding link to see a larger and clearer version of the picture.

Scott, Jerry Thompson was the driver of the #9 Camaro. Don Yenko would have been the driver but he was suspended by the SCCAfor 6 months after the ARRC event in November '66 for ignoring a black flag. Carson Baird and Roger West did drive the #1 Camarobut it is possible that Chitwood also drove for part of the race. I have seen Chitwood at that race and wearing a driving suit but standingin the pits while racing was going on out on the track. The two engine compartment photos are of the Tom Lynch #28 Camaro. This carleft for England right after Sebring and took part in European Touring Car races for several months before coming back to the States.The European rules required bumpers and also a rear seat.

Scott, Jerry Thompson was the driver of the #9 Camaro. Don Yenko would have been the driver but he was suspended by the SCCAfor 6 months after the ARRC event in November '66 for ignoring a black flag. Carson Baird and Roger West did drive the #1 Camarobut it is possible that Chitwood also drove for part of the race. I have seen Chitwood at that race and wearing a driving suit but standingin the pits while racing was going on out on the track. The two engine compartment photos are of the Tom Lynch #28 Camaro. This carleft for England right after Sebring and took part in European Touring Car races for several months before coming back to the States.The European rules required bumpers and also a rear seat.

Jon, thanks for always answering the questions that I and many others have. I'm constantly amazed at the knowledge that you possess and share with the rest of us.

The grid layout is not an official document from back then, just something I did for myself to help give me abetter visual of how it was organized. Yes, the colors shown represent the car colors with a few exceptions. Inthe last several rows, I didn't know all of the car colors and so the majority of those were left white. Also, theAlfas of Horst Kwech and Monte Winkler were red, white & green but I didn't have a way to do that._______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hard-to-find Sebring Results program cover below and a small part of the results, retirements and other details found within.

That's a good visual aid and it helps the layout. I assumed it was done for scoring or such. And I thought that the space left white meant the car was mostly white, like Joie Chitwood's for instance, or the Alfa's as you pointed out. You really put a lot of thought and effort into this Jon, and it is much appreciated.

Green Valley 300 Trans-Am report from Competition Press & Autoweek, courtesy of Ron Lathrop.The program actually called this a "Stock Car Race" for some reason but it was a real SCCA Trans-Am event, not Nascar.

Dave Friedman took over 400 photos of the 1967 Green Valley 300 Trans Am race held at Green Valley Raceway, Smithfield, Texas on April 16, 1967. The pictures are part of the Dave Friedman Collection at The Henry Ford. You can see all of them here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thehenryford/sets/72157631175084150/ Click on this link to see many fabulous pictures of the Mustangs, Cougars, Darts, Porsches, Alfas, Minis, and Cortinas that participated along with four Camaros. There are also several color photos that can be seen on the bottom of page five and all of page 6. Enjoy!

I am posting a few of the best pictures of each of the four participating Camaros. Enjoy! Click on the corresponding link to see a larger and clearer version of each picture.

These four pictures feature the #75 Camaro driven by Vic Campbell. He was running at the end of the race and finished 15th.

The first two pictures in this post are the only two pictures that feature the #54 Camaro driven by Charlie Kolb during the 1967 Green Valley Trans Am race. Unfortunately, he also did not finsh the race. His Camaro retired after completing 89 laps.

The third picture is an ineresting one that shows the Shelby team "Race Assistance" Ford van and trailer. The fourth picture shows the Firestone Tire set up in the paddock.

Click on the corresponding link to see a larger and clearer version of each picture.

Mike, I would agree. They're not the standard 15x6 wheel but are probably 15x7s. If you look at this car when it ran as car #22 at Sebring, it was running 14" diameter American mags so I'm somewhat doubtful that it began life as a Z-28. Probably a converted SS or 327 car. When I spoke with Charlie Kolb in person shortly before he passed away several years ago, he mentioned that his car had DNF'd in this race and he was hanging around in the pits when Donohue came in and was really suffering from heat exhaustion. Mark would only give up the car if Charlie would agree to drive it and according to Charlie, that's what happened. The race reports don't indicate that but that doesn't mean it's not true.

While it was produced by Mercury and obviously focused on the Bud Moore Cougar race team, the documentary entitled "Cougar Caper" is a must watch for anyone interested in seeing color film footage of the 1967 Trans Am season. Races covered in depth include Daytona, Sebring, Green Valley, Marlboro and Kent

Green Valley 300 Trans-Am program, probably one of the hardest programs to find. It is curiously described on the cover asa "stock car" race and, as a whole, is fairly amateurish. With that being said, it is a neat piece of Trans-Am history. Many thanks goto Craig Wheeldon for sharing his copy with us.

The first road racing win for Camaro came in an SCCA Regional race at Stardust Raceway in Las Vegason 4-23-67. Dick Guldstrand was the driver in his Dana Chevrolet sponsored car. (Jon Mello Collection)

Bud Moore Cougar driver Ed Leslie has a high opinion of the Trans-Am series andwhat he believes it will do for street cars.

It's also interesting to read that Leslie was definately not in favor of the LeMans type start that he had just experienced at Green Valley and earlier in the year at Sebring. You can tell in his comments at the end of the article that he was worried about the safety risks in this type of start.

The first Camaro road racing win at an SCCA National event was at Cumberland, MD on May 13, 1967.Johnny Moore was the driver of the car owned by Hugh Heishman. The National events have stiffer comp-etition and get you points that count toward the national championship (ARRC) run-off at the end of the year.

The first Camaro road racing win at an international event was at St. Jovite (Mt. Tremblant) on May 21, 1967. This was notan official SCCA Trans-Am event in 1967. The track wanted to be part of the Trans-Am series in 1967 but other tracks werechosen instead. None of the factory teams made the trek to Canada for this race, however many good drivers and cars thatwere regulars in the Trans-Am series did run in it. The race was won by Dick Guldstrand in his Dana-sponsored Camaro.CP&A coverage of the race courtesy of Ron Lathrop.

Several Camaros participated in this event and I have attached a few of the best pictures of them.

The first photo shows the start of the race. You can see the flag man about to waive the green flag for the standing start. The light blue #56 Camaro is the winning car of Dick Guldstrand/Tom Payne. It completed 118 laps.

The second photo shows the #24 Camaro of Don Yenko and Jerry Thompson. The car did not finish due to a suspension problem on lap 103. You can also see the white Yenko Stinger Corvair just behind the Camaro in this picture. It was driven by Donna Mae Mimms but failed to finish due to ignition and clutch failure on lap 18.

The third photo shows the #1 Camaro of Joie Chitwood. Did Chitwood drive this car or was it Corwin/Lynd, the only other Camaro drivers mentioned in the article race recap to finish the race?

The fourth photo shows the #777 Camaro of Craig Fisher. This car did not finish due to an engine failure on lap 51.

1) Winning Camaro #56 of Dick Guldstrand/Tom Payne2) Camaro #5 of Bob Brown. This car did not finish due to engine failure on lap 104.3) Three Camaros fighting for position4) Nearly stock RS Z28 Camaro with front license plate! Is this the Camaro of Corwin/Lynd or the Camaro of R. West? These are the other two Camaros listed in the race recap clipping posted by Jon Mello.

On the autocourse.ca website this Camaro is credited to Richard Hoffman but in the race recap clipping it states that R. Hoffman finished in 12th place driving a Mustang. Was this a misprint in the clipping or is this someone else?

Thanks for posting those, Scott. Roger West was the driver of the Joie Chitwood Camaro. The Z-28 with the front plate was driven by Corwin/Lyndand the #48 in the last photo was driven by Dick Hoffman, a GM Proving Ground engineer. He was not in a Mustang.

Also, Donna Mae Mims' Corvair was pink, not white. There is some glare in that picture which threw you off.

Thanks for posting those, Scott. Roger West was the driver of the Joie Chitwood Camaro. The Z-28 with the front plate was driven by Corwin/Lyndand the #48 in the last photo was driven by Dick Hoffman, a GM Proving Ground engineer. He was not in a Mustang.

Also, Donna Mae Mims' Corvair was pink, not white. There is some glare in that picture which threw you off.

Thanks for the info Jon. I should have known about the pink Corvair. Brain cramp!

1) At the bottom of page 47 in the July 1967 edition of Canada Track & Traffic there is a picture with a caption that states, "Winner, race one, Peter Roberts in his Ginnetta." Is this picture referring to the sports car races held at St. Jovite on June 12, 1967? Is there an article on the race on the next page?That Ginnetta looks like the one in the first attached picture from autocourse.ca. I was just wondering because of the 1967 Camaro RS in the background. As you know I am always on the look out for pace car, safety car, and official track car pictures, especially Camaros. Other pictures from that web site demonstrate that these races began with a standing start, so I know that it didn't pace the field prior to the start but it might have been used in the safety car capacity and I'm trying to pin down which race it was.

2) Does the program for the 1968 Trans Am race at St. Jovite mention anything about or show a picture of the 1968 Camaro RS/SS convertible that I presume was used as the pace car or safety car during the 1968 Trans Am race and subsequent races at St. Jovite. The second attached picture from autocourse.ca shows this particular car before or after the supporting 3 hour race for sports cars. This same Camaro also appears in the background of movie footage taken during the Trans Am race.

It's funny that both the 1967 Camaro and the 1968 Camaro seem to be parked in the exact same spot on the track in the pictures, only seperated by a year.

SMKZ28,as for question #2 for jon, I have in my hot little hand the program for the '68 trans-am a tremblant. I went through it twice, but didn't see any mention of the official car or any G.M ad surprisingly ! I may have missed something, always a possibility.

SMKZ28,as for question #2 for jon, I have in my hot little hand the program for the '68 trans-am a tremblant. I went through it twice, but didn't see any mention of the official car or any G.M ad surprisingly ! I may have missed something, always a possibility.

Interesting to see that the Camaro of Craig Fisher ran the early part of the season painted black, then he painted it silver for the 4 hour non-trans am sanctioned race at St. Jovite, then he painted it yellow for the Lime Rock Trans Am run 9 nine days later.

SMKZ28, I have no idea why fishers camaro went from black to silver, in the non sanctioned sedan [trans-am] race at tremblant in '67. the car was damaged on the front at that race and didn't finish due to engine problems. somewhere I recall reading that the car was painted yellow after that and got the moniker "cat skinners" as a dig against penske ? because godsall distributed a different make of heavy machinery in canada. JON could chime in here, his depth of knowledge is incredible ! !SMK you have much better eyes than me when it comes to finding little nuances in photos. maybe there is some clue in the fuel filler set up on the fisher car, from race to race. http://www.autocourse.ca/index.php?file=photos.html I'm sure you know the autocourse site, there are quite a number of photos from that race there.

SMKZ28, I have no idea why fishers camaro went from black to silver, in the non sanctioned sedan [trans-am] race at tremblant in '67. the car was damaged on the front at that race and didn't finish due to engine problems. somewhere I recall reading that the car was painted yellow after that and got the moniker "cat skinners" as a dig against penske ? because godsall distributed a different make of heavy machinery in canada. JON could chime in here, his depth of knowledge is incredible ! !SMK you have much better eyes than me when it comes to finding little nuances in photos. maybe there is some clue in the fuel filler set up on the fisher car, from race to race. http://www.autocourse.ca/index.php?file=photos.html I'm sure you know the autocourse site, there are quite a number of photos from that race there.

mike in canada

Thanks Mike for this info. I love the autocourse site, so many fascinating pictures have been submitted there.

Terry Godsall was the owner of Craig Fisher's Camaro. Terry's father owned the Terex excavation equipment distributorshipfor the eastern half of Canada. Cat Skinner on the car at Lime Rock is a dig at the Cougar team as well as a dig at Terex'smain business rival Caterpillar, aka "CAT". The circle with the triangle in it on the front of Craig's car is the Terex corporatelogo and the color of the car was a Terex heavy equipment color. When Godsall got the Camaro, it was black and gold andwas outfitted with the Gorries "Black Panther" emblems and paint job. Godsall probably got a deal on the car from the Gorriesdealership in Toronto in exchange for racing the car in that guise for a fixed number of races. It appears that the last racethat the car ran at like that was the Oak Cup race in Canada on May 14th. The following week was the St Jovite race wherethe car was silver or gray primer and running as #777. The week after that was Lime Rock where it showed up with the newyellow paint job and a standard non-RS look. I don't know why it looked like it did at St Jovite and Craig Fisher did not rememberwhy either.

I see that seven Camaros took part in the Mid-Ohio Trans Am. I know that George Follmer was #16, John Moore was #4, and Dick Hoffman was #48. I have seen Craig Fisher listed as #1 in several places but I would assume that Roger West drove #1 and Fisher drove #71 like the previous race. Is this correct? Also, do you know the numbers of Don Hamilton and Gary Morgan? Is Morgan #55? None of my usual sources list their numbers and I am trying to identify their cars in the Friedman photos before I post them. Thanks.

While Dave Friedman did not attend the round at Limerock he did take over a hundred photos of the next Trans Am race at Mid Ohio Sports Car Course, in Lexington, Ohio on June 11, 1967.

The pictures are part of the Dave Friedman Collection at The Henry Ford. You can see all of them here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thehenryford/sets/72157632987770750/ Click on this link to see several pictures of the Mustangs, Cougars, Darts, Barracudas, Porsches, Alfas, Minis, BMWs and Cortinas that participated along with seven Camaros.

I am posting a few of the best pictures of each of the participating Camaros. Enjoy! Click on the corresponding link to see a larger and clearer version of each picture.

The first picture shows the pace lap along with the 1967 Camaro RS/SS convertible pace car (possibly one of the rare Indy Pace Car replicas). The second picture also shows the pace lap. You can see most of the Camaros that participated in this race in these two pictures. The third picture shows the #1 Camaro of Roger West who finished in 8th, seven laps down and the #84 of Don Hamilton. The fourth picture shows the #4 Camaro of John Moore who did not finish the race, completing only 21 laps before losing a wheel, as well as the #55 of Gary Morgan which DNF'd a few laps later with a blown engine.

Here are four pictures of the #16 Camaro driven by George Follmer to a 3rd place finish, 3 laps down to the winner. George was driving the Penske Camaro for this race because Mark Donohue was at LeMans, France racing in the 24 hour race.

Click on the corresponding link to see a larger and clearer version of each picture.

Watkins Glen did not get an official SCCA Trans-Am race for 1967 so they created their own event which they calledthe "Glen Challenge for Manufacturers". This race was added as a prelim for the USRRC event that same weekend (6-25-67).Roger Penske had his Camaro entered, probably due to his friendship with the track owners, but when the Shelby and BudMoore teams did not show up, he bowed out and concentrated on the USRRC event with his Lola. Mark Donohue cleanedhouse and dominated the USRRC events in '67, winning that championship. The pages below are gathered from WatkinsGlen press literature, Competition Press & Autoweek and SCCA's Sports Car magazine. (Jon Mello Collection)

Dave Friedman took some great photos of both the Glen Challenge for Manufacturers and the USRRC races at Watkins Glen International Raceway in Watkins Glen, New York on June 25, 1967. The Henry Ford has not added his pictures to their Flickr page yet but you can see all 185 photos he took of both races here: http://thehenryford.artehouse.com/perl/collection.pl?collectionID=3096&productTypeID=62&ckon=leftNav Click on this link to see several pictures of the Mustangs, Porsches, a Dart, a Fiat, an Alfa Romeo and a Renault that participated in the Glen Challenge for Manufacturers along with three Camaros. They are interspersed with shots of the USRRC race.

I am posting the best pictures of the start of the race along with each of the participating Camaros. Enjoy! Click on the corresponding link to see a larger and clearer version of each picture.

These first four pictures of the start of the race were taken from the "Dunlop" flag stand that juts out above the start finish line. What a neat perspective to see the standing start.

Here are more pictures of the start of the Glen Challenge for Manufacturers at Watkins Glen. The first picture was taken from the flag stand and the others were taken by a different person in a different place just after the start finish line. You can see the Dunlop flag stand where the previous pictures were taken from. I'm not sure which position Dave Friedman was in but I do know he couldn't be in two places at the same time!

Click on the corresponding link to see a larger and clearer version of each picture.

These photos show the #5 Camaro of Bob Brown who finished fourth in the Glen Challenge for Manufacturers but was disqualified when it was found that he ran the entire race without a passenger seat. According to one of the documents posted by Jon Mello his day went from bad to worse when "he was later handed a 30-day suspension of his competition license when post-race scrutineers found his car fitted with a 327CID engine instead of the legal 305CID Chevrolet engine."

Click on the corresponding link to see a larger and clearer version of each picture.

These last four photos from the Glen Challenge for Manufacturers show the #88 Camaro of Maurice Carter who did not finish the race. He completed only 19 laps and went out due to his fly wheel exploding.

Click on the corresponding link to see a larger and clearer version of each picture.

scott, great shots from the glen, that carter camaro sure rides high !! I think one of the other shots that friedman took shows carter leaning down and looking under the car with all the debris, and there is someone on the right with a clipboard. it was in sports car graphic in the day in the section at the back titled "slightly modified" with a caption like " you can start with a crank and a couple of pistons" I always got a chuckle from that part of the magazine.

Mo Carter's Camaro ran the Shell 4000 Trans-Canada rally in early May '67 and didn't look too bad by the end of that even though it was on some of the roughest "roads" in Canada. In contrast, by the end of June '67 at the Watkins Glen race a standard grille has been installed and the RS stuff has been removed, some oversized tires have been installed in the rear, the front end's been smashed and the engine and trans have been detonated. Not a very kind couple of months for that poor red car.

Mo Carter's Camaro ran the Shell 4000 Trans-Canada rally in early May '67 and didn't look to bad by the end of that even though it was on some of the roughest "roads" in Canada. In contrast, by the end of June '67 at the Watkins Glen race a standard grille has been installed and the RS stuff has been removed, some oversized tires have been installed in the rear, the front end's been smashed and the engine and trans have been detonated. Not a very kind couple of months for that poor red car.

After we did 3 T/A races in 72, the owner Al Richards sold the car to a Vito Micielli, who raced at Pinecrest Speedway just outside of Toronto. Al knew many of these stock car guys and worked with some of them in his day job. Usually he borrowed one of their single axle stock car trailers for our T/A expeditions, and I wouild borrow pick up tricks from my friends to tow the trailers.

Several years ago I contacted Vito's son who told me the camaro got "bent" and was parted out. "No idea what happed to the remains but likely went to a scrap yard".

jon, thanks for posting that page from sports car graphic, with mo carter at the glen in 1967. I think some else mentioned it here, but your reference library must be incredible !! a mention of a vague memory one might have, and BANG ! there it is.

Daytona Paul Revere 250 was another unofficial "Trans-Am type" race but with a bit of a twist. It had the backing of SCCA andBill France of Nascar. It also was to feature Parnelli Jones driving one of Bud Moore's Cougars plus Jerry Titus in his Shelby preparedMustang. It was not an official Trans-Am event and did not have points that counted in that series. Here's a CP&A article in advance ofthe race explaining Bill France's interest in this type of racing. It ultimately led Bill to get his own version of Trans-Am going for the'68 season, which he called Nascar GT or Grand Touring. (Jon Mello Collection)

Paul Revere 250 Has anyone "heard" this? I found this Groovy song from 1967 by Randy & The Holidays entitled "Paul Revere 250." If you listen, they mention Cougar, Barracuda, Mustang and Firebird, but there is no mention of the Camaro. Not sure what the engine limitations were for this particular race but in the song they are talking about 390, 383 and 396 engines. Were these size engines allowed in this particular race or were the writers of the song just unimformed? Apparantly the bad was from Georgia.

Going to that link, you find out about a '68 movie called 'Speed Lovers' with Fred Lorenzen. the trailer is *interesting*.. I recall Fred Lorenzen (although I believe he was a Ford man), but I missed that movie at the time.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ej5v9b6LqU

...Not sure what the engine limitations were for this particular race but in the song they are talking about 390, 383 and 396 engines. Were these size engines allowed in this particular race or were the writers of the song just uninformed?

...Not sure what the engine limitations were for this particular race but in the song they are talking about 390, 383 and 396 engines. Were these size engines allowed in this particular race or were the writers of the song just uninformed?

Paul Revere 250I have been able to find a few pictures taken during the race. The first one shows Curtis Turner driving the Joie Chitwood Camaro on the track while the second shows the same car in the pits. The third picture shows Bud Moore in the pits standing next to the Cougar of Parnelli Jones during a pit stop. Since there are so many warnings about copying pictures from this particular site just click on this link to see the third picture: http://stockcar.racersreunion.com/photo/1967-paul-revere-250

While I unfortunately didn't find any footage of the 1967 Paul Revere 250 while searching through Youtube, I did run across three different "color films" of the 1967 24-Hour Continental run at Daytona in early February. One of them even features some footage of the 300 mile Trans Am race run on February 3, 1967 at Daytona. I'm not sure how I missed this stuff when Jon was just starting this thread a couple of months ago but here it is now.

This first film looks like it might have been professionally produced in some manner for Porsche although there is no soundtrack on the Youtube version. It focuses on the Porsche race cars that participated in both the Trans Am 300 mile race as well as the 24-Hour Continental but there is plenty of other interesting stuff to see in this color footage. The part with the Trans Am 300 can be seen from 1:23 to 2:20. The rest of the film shows the running of the 24-Hour Continental. See it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNm3yuwdo3I

The second film is a silent, color home movie of the 24-Hour Continental. In it you can catch several glimpses of the Camaros and Mustangs on the grid and on the track during the race. See this film here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qQUT8BsYV4

The third film is also a silent, color home movie of the 24-Hour Continental. Although it is short you can see the Camaros and Mustangs as they leave the grid. See this film here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52yLkQASg0Y

Winky Louise was "Miss Firebird" representing Pure Oil in Nascar and replaced Linda Vaughn when she was hired by George Hurst to promoteand represent his shifter company. Both Linda and Winky were beautiful and classy ladies who were well liked not only by the drivers but bythe fans as well. Jerry Kramer from the Green Bay Packers married Winky and I think that was at the end of '68 or early '69 after he retired from football. She retired from her racing duties at that time to be his wife.

Yenko Chevrolet ad features the red Bud Gates Z-28 from the Sebring 4-hour Trans-Am race. Yenko made their own rear spoilers and offered them tothe public because this piece was not truly available from the factory. Other racers made their own rear spoiler via blueprints provided by Chevrolet.

Another CP&A mid-season article, this one written by Jerry Titus, who shares his thoughts and opinions on the series. (Jon Mello Collection)

A Dana Chevrolet ad from the same issue of CP&A, featuring Dick Guldstrand driving the Camaro.

A Nickey Chevrolet/Bill Thomas ad from the same issue shows they were supplying ready-to-go race engines to customers.Interesting to note that the 302 is called out in mid-67 but the 350 engine size is not.

Washington Star newspaper article giving some insight into the life of a privateer Camaro racing team in '67.The article refers to Joe Heishman when in fact they were interviewing Hugh Heishman, the car's owner. Joewas Hugh's father. Joe Heishman's name was on the front fender of the Camaro because it was race preparedat Hugh's VW/Porsche dealership, which was named in honor of his father.

Some interesting info from the July 29, 1967 issue of Competition Press & Autoweek, including the fact that Parnelli Jones had tested the as-yetunreleased Javelin and that Bob Tullius was considered the front runner to field a Javelin racing team for American Motors. (Jon Mello Collection)

Mark Donohue had a full roll cage in the car for the first time at the Bryar race. He also had thinner gauge sheetmetalfrom the doors forward according to his "Unfair Advantage" book, which was specially stamped out for him on FisherBody tooling in a one-time deal. Unfortunately, the sheetmetal was destroyed beyond repair when a broken LH rear axlecaused the car to crash into the wooden barrier coming out of the final turn during a Saturday practice session. I dothink the hood ended up being saved.

Neat to see on the bottom right side of the schedule on page 13 of the program that it says, "Pace Car - Courtesy of Doble's Chevrolet, Manchester, New Hampshire." They are obviously the ones who provided the white 1967 Camaro convertible that is shown in the attached picture heading into pit lane just before the green flag started the race at Bryar. I'm not sure who took the photo but it was posted by Derek Sutton at the Historic SCCA Pro Racing Trans-Am Series Fan Group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=694312197249795&set=o.109038482465812&type=3&theater

Marlboro 300 Trans-Am coverage from SCCA's Sports Car magazine. (Jon Mello Collection)This race was unusual in the fact that the under-2 liter cars ran a separate 300 mile race on Saturdaywhile the over-2 liter cars ran in their own separate race on Sunday. Previous races had both classesrunning together. Many drivers ran in both races as co-drivers to each car's regular driver. It was notuntil the 1970 season that SCCA permanently removed the U-2 cars from running with the O-2s.

Nice pics.. Seeing the refueling photo reminded me of being 'refuel man' in a friend's pit crew at a couple of IMSA races at Road Atlanta... I can't recall how much fuel one of those cans held (8 gal?) but they was pretty heavy ... especially after pulling two of them full in a little red wagon from the fueling station..

Marlboro 300 photos from Andrew Keller. Notice the fit of the hood which is fully closed. This is the only salvageable piecefrom the lightweight front sheetmetal (besides the cowl panel) that was so heavily damaged at Bryar the week before.

Article below implies that the two Z-28s from Ron Tonkin were destroyed in a towing accident. They probably sustainedsome damage but they were repaired and sold during 1968. Just who they were sold to is unknown by me at this time.

While searching through www.gettyimages.com I found a couple of pictures of the Jerry Titus Mustang that were taken at the Trans Am race that took place at Crow's Landing, Modesto, California on September 10, 1967. Interesting sticker on the front passenger side of the car that reads "Shelby: Race Raped" This seems to be a re-working of the "Race Prepared" sticker. I don't remember ever seeing this before. I certainly don't think you could put something like this on current race car, not very politically correct. Was it an inside joke of some sort?

Crow's Landing/Modesto was supposed to be the debut of a two-car effort by Penske to help closethe points gap against the Cougars and Mustangs. Unfortunately the first car was involved in a towingmishap on the way to the race. The car was being towed by Craig Fisher and mechanic Tom Greatorexfrom Penske's shop in PA. They had been driving for a day and a half straight alternating the drivingduties. They came to a poorly lit, newly constructed freeway interchange near Fernly, Nevada whenthe trailer tire got just off the side off the pavement, got sucked into some gravel and hit a drainageculvert. The car was very badly damaged. It was so bad that Craig Fisher was told to strip all the goodparts off of it but Mark looked at it later and decided everything was still "square" and that it shouldbe repaired. On top of that nightmare scenario, the new lightweight (sandblasted) Camaro that theyhad been preparing since June, was barely ready and was airfreighted to the race at the last moment.It had the wrong gearing for the track and while they changed to a slightly better gear ratio, it stillended up falling short of what they really needed.

Riverside Trans-Am race report from my October 7 issue of Competition Press & Autoweek. You may noticethat guys such as Mark Donohue, Dan Gurney, George Follmer and Peter Revson were not at this race. This is dueto a schedule conflict with the Can-Am series and those four were running at the Bridgehampton Can-Am on theEast Coast while this Trans-Am race was being run. Bob Johnson was the substitute driver in the Sunoco Camaro.

This Competition Press and Autoweek article from the 10-14-67 issuenotes that the Penske Camaro is of legal weight even with panel thick-nesses near 1/3 that of stock. There are rumors and folklore that statethe same car weighed 2550lbs at Kent three weeks later. I find that completely implausible.Jon Mello Collection

jon, thanks for all your research, and information you have posted on my favorite year of the trans-am. I am looking forward to what you have on the next race, stardust. I have only ever found a dozen photos from this race. I am given to understand, that because the race ran into the night, that there were not a lot of pictures.

You're welcome Mike. I know many people feel the 1970 season was the best one because of all the various factory teams involved butI feel '67 was the best due to the fact that Cougar, Mustang and Camaro all finished the season within seven points of one another. Ialso feel that if Donohue had not missed the Mid-Ohio and Riverside Trans-Ams due to other racing commitments, it could have addedto Camaro's points total and changed the outcome of the season. The addition of a second Penske Camaro earlier in the season wouldhave been an added benefit as well.

Here are a few pictures from Getty Images of the 1967 Mission Bell Trophy 250 Trans Am race at Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California on September 17, 1967. See them at www.gettyimages.com

There are not a lot of photos from this race because it began at 6PM (to beat the heat) and there was not a whole lot of daylightleft by then. The program is impossible to find. If anybody out there has one, please contact me or post anything from it in this thread. There were five Camaros in this race - two Penske cars and three independents. Tony Settember was supposed to drive theWashburn Chevrolet sponsored Camaro in this event but for some reason, the car did not make it there and Tony drove a Cortinainstead. Dick Guldstrand and his Dana Camaro were entered and did not make it either. Mark Donohue won this race in his PenskeCamaro for his second win of the season.

Stardust International Raceway was built by the Stardust Hotel as a way to help draw customers in but it was never a huge success.It was out of the way and you had to take dirt roads to get to it but now it would be in the middle of town. When Leo Margolian andcompany sold the hotel at the end of '68, the new ownership elected to shut the track down after a couple of early '69 races there.

The metadata states: "Las Vegas Trans-Am. The racing field files in to turn one at the start of the race. Mark Donohue of Penske racing will go on to win the in his Camaro Z28. (Photo by W.R.C. Shedenhelm/Source Interlink Media/Getty Images)"